Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez tipped his hat to the fans after he was pulled in the seventh inning.

Ubaldo Jimenez, the most accomplished pitcher in franchise history and a loyal company man, has a habit of putting on his Rockies cap for postgame interviews. And he made it clear tonight that he wants to keep it there beyond the July 31 trading deadline.

Asked if he would tell general manager Dan O’Dowd that, Jimenez smiled and said, “I think he already knows.’’

With the deadline 11 days away, a handful of teams, most notably the Yankees, have inquired about Jimenez’s availability. While a deal appears unlikely, O’Dowd has listened.

So it was that tonight’s 12-3 win over the Braves could have been Jimenez’s last home start. If so, the Coors Field crowd sent him away in style, standing in unison as he departed after 6 2/3 innings, during which he matched his season high with nine strikeouts and allowed two runs, both via Dan Uggla solo homers.

“It felt really good,’’ said Jimenez. “It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten one of those. Especially when you’re hearing so many things, I don’t know if that’s going to be my last one here.’’

Jimenez on trying to block out all the trade talk, magnified in an era of runaway social networking: “It doesn’t matter how many things I hear. Once I cross the line you’re thinking about getting the hitters out. It doesn’t matter how many things I hear. I’m just trying to stay focused. Probably after the game you’re going to keep listening to things. That’s a good time to do it — after the game.’’

It’s all but official after tonight’s performance: Jimenez’s issues are behind him. While his future is unclear, his stock certainly is on the rise. He stood 0-5 with a 5.86 ERA through May. Since then, he’s 6-3, 2.58 and has allowed more than two earned runs — three on each occasion — in 10 starts.

Jimenez (6-8, 4.00) isn’t the only one who’s felt the cruelty of the baseball gods this season. The Rockies (46-51) had lost three straight games and Troy Tulowitzki had ended each, two with strikeouts. Tulowitzki gave Jimenez all the support he needed with a three-run, first-inning home run off loser Brandon Beachy, who was making his first-ever start against the Rockies.

How important is Tulo in the Rockies’ grand scheme? Consider this: He has played in 92 games, 45 wins and 47 losses. He’s hitting .371 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs in the 45 wins, .183-4-15 in the losses. The Rockies are 14-4 when he homers after finishing last season 20-3 when he went deep.

Other news ‘n’ notes from another day on the Rox beat:

Seth Smith had a double and triple and drove in three runs, his first offensive explosion of the month. Smith was remarkably consistent in the season’s first three months, hitting .306-2-12 in April, .303-3-10 in May, and .308-3-13 in June. But he was hitting .240-0-2 in July before his breakout game.

Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer, his 14th, the fourth time this season that Tulo and CarGo had gone deep in the same game. Believe it or not, it happened only twice last season.

Dexter Fowler had three hits, matching his season high, and a season-best three RBIs, all of which came on a sixth-inning triple.

With the trading deadline less than two weeks away, the teams with scouts at Coors Field included the Twins, Blue Jays, Reds, Tigers and Diamondbacks, who play the Rockies this weekend. The Pirates, who play the Braves next week, had two sets of eyes on hand.

Todd Helton went into the game hitting .404 in July, third best in the National League. His season totals: .324 with 10 homers and 48 RBIs. A year ago on the same date, he was at .243-2-16 in 248 at-bats.

Jimenez has won each of his past three starts, the first time he’s done that all season, and is 3-0 in his last four Coors Field starts. He went into the game 2-5, 5.89 at home, having allowed a .314 batting average. On the road, he’s 3-3, 2.28 with a major league-leading .158 opponents’ batting average.

The win got the Rox back to .500 (25-25) at home. A year ago, they were 32-18 at Coors Field through 50 games.

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.